Pro's and Con's Carbon in the Limbs

[ron w]

What's the good and bad about having Carbon in the limbs of your hunting bow. Any difference in the noise, better cast, or is it not worth the expense? I have a bow in the works and may want to add it to the build.

[9 Shocks]

I have a centaur with carbon limbs and I truly believe it does cast the arrow faster.  The bow is also super quiet.  I have not noticed a significant difference in sound between it and my thunderchild...both are sweet shooters and whisper quiet.  But yes the carbon appears TO ME that it casts the arrow faster.

[DanielB89]

I would love to see two bows the same make, style, weight, just one with carbon and one without and see which one if faster.  I have always "HEARD" that carbon is the best thing since sliced bread, but would love to actually see some solid tests ran.

[mike g]

I would also like to see more test....
    Some say the diff. Is cost $$$$.

[Onehair]

I am nervous of the durability of the carbon limbs.I have a screaming A&H that had a splinter raise up and go through my thumb. I'm just not sure it will take the hunting abuse you can give a glass bow.

[Jack Hoyt 75]

Carbon is very strong and used in items that get more abuse and stress than bows for decades.  Exceptional strenght vs its weight. It is not a new material or technology at all.  Keep in mind not all carbon is the same or same quality and that can affect performance.

Two  bowyers I talked to said carbon should add between 2 and 10 fps.  So you have to decide is say 4 or 6 fps worth $100 or more???

I put it in the Fox triple crown I ordered recently.
Cant go wrong with or without it.

[BowMIke]

I have Morrison Shawnee limbs with bamboo  and I have some limbs with carbon/foam. I prefer the carbon/foam limbs. Just a little smoother and faster. Both are very quiet.

[Hoyt]

I have a 64" Big Foot Sasquatch recurve with triple carbon and foam..no veneers. It's the quietest, smoothest, fastest, hardest hitting recurve I've ever shot.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

It's funny.... on some limb designs it makes more difference in performance than others. Where you place the carbon in the limb construction, carbon type, & how many layers can vary the results too.

2-10 fps covers the range pretty good, but i prefer using 4-6 fps as a rule... To some folks it's worth the money... to others it isn't.
Ask your bowyer what the difference is on your chosen design brutha....

[LongStick64]

I firmly believe the archers forms determines the result of the shot more often than what the bow or arrows are made of. That being said I found Carbon limbs were stiffer, lighter and faster.....but it still came down to me.

[AR RidgeRunner]

In my hybrid longbow limbs, carbon back is around 4-5 FPS faster than glass back. My hybrid has almost no hand shock anyway but it's even less with carbon than it is with glass. Guess because of the lighter mass weight. Like Kirk said I'm sure bow design has a lot to do with how much performance is gained with carbon versus glass. I've always heard it makes more difference in hybrid or LB limbs than it does in recurve limbs, not sure about that.

[ron w]

The Bowyer I'm dealing with said at best 2-4 FPS. I'm thinking at the ranges I would take a shot where I hunt [10-22 yards] it's not worth the added money. I just wanted to hear some opinions. As far as hand shock.......lol, I also shoot Hill style bows and don't think they have any.......      

[reddogge]

Sometimes with carbon limbs it's other qualities than pure speed. They have a different feel when you draw them and when you shoot them. So it's really hard to just say they are better. I just know the BF Extremes I've been shooting for a couple of years are the smoothest shooting limbs for 3-D I've ever owned but I still hunt with wood cores.

[Biathlonman]

I've had several longbows with carbon in the limbs and they've all been dramatically louder to my ears.  I had a buddy that said one sounded "pissed off" every time you shot the thing.

[dougedwards]

Originally posted by Onehair:
I am nervous of the durability of the carbon limbs.I have a screaming A&H that had a splinter raise up and go through my thumb. I'm just not sure it will take the hunting abuse you can give a glass bow.

Bought a used 66" A&H with carbon limbs and it shot beautifully until this happened at full draw.  New limbs cost $750. You can keep the carbon limbs.  No need for a few more "fps" if the carbon makes the limbs more fragile.
   

[ron w]

Well that ain't good......sorry for your loss.

I have had one bow with carbon in the limbs. It just sounded different and was annoying to me. Performance-wise, I noticed not enough differene to make me ever wnt to order another bow with carbon! I'll stick with my 'boo cores!

Bisch

[Homebru]

Originally posted by DanielB89:
I would love to see two bows the same make, style, weight, just one with carbon and one without and see which one if faster.  I have always "HEARD" that carbon is the best thing since sliced bread, but would love to actually see some solid tests ran.

I have two Morrison Shawnees.  The carbon / foam one is 2 lbs lighter draw at 28" and 2" longer.

 

Originally posted by BowMIke:
I have Morrison Shawnee limbs with bamboo  and I have some limbs with carbon/foam. I prefer the carbon/foam limbs. Just a little smoother and faster. Both are very quiet.

The carbon feels just a bit stiffer and shoots faster.  I believe Bob said 4 fps but my memory may be failing.  Regardless, 4 fps ain't that much.

 

Originally posted by reddogge:
Sometimes with carbon limbs it's other qualities than pure speed. They have a different feel when you draw them and when you shoot them. So it's really hard to just say they are better. I just know the BF Extremes I've been shooting for a couple of years are the smoothest shooting limbs for 3-D I've ever owned but I still hunt with wood cores.

Originally posted by Biathlonman:
I've had several longbows with carbon in the limbs and they've all been dramatically louder to my ears.  I had a buddy that said one sounded "pissed off" every time you shot the thing.

The carbon is slightly different in feel and has a higher pitch sound to the release.

 

Originally posted by dougedwards:
Bought a used 66" A&H with carbon limbs and it shot beautifully until this happened at full draw.

Doug, I'm sorry to see that you had a bow delaminate. I'm no engineer but my guess is that "durability" and a glue line delamination are diffferent things.  

Bob Morrison has told me himself that one of his greatest improvements with the carbon / foam limb is fewer delaminations.  That being said, I would guess that delamination has something to do with both materials and techniques.

What about stability in a limb? Are carbon limbs more stable torsionally or anything else?  How does that effect performance?

Just my thoughts and no disrespect intended.
homebru

Originally posted by DanielB89:
I would love to see two bows the same make, style, weight, just one with carbon and one without and see which one if faster.  I have always "HEARD" that carbon is the best thing since sliced bread, but would love to actually see some solid tests ran.

I have done this! Same riser, with two sets of limbs; one set with carbon, and one set without carbon. I don't think the carbon limbs were really louder, but they definitely sounded different, and I did not like it. Both sets of limbs were within .1 pound of each other, and the chronograph showed no difference in speed!

Bisch

[Tajue17]

I had a Harrison HHC with carbon backed limbs it was a 70" bow that I drew 27" and the carbon split and delaminated at the fade out near the riser.. I'll never buy another bow with Carbon on the Back for me it has to be sandwiched or non at all.